• Vandals steal 1,800 manhole covers, 1km security fence, 75 road signs from Tinubu’s ₦15trn flagship project
• Police arrest 39 suspects in August crackdown, recover guns, cables, vandalised iron, drugs
Segun Atanda/
The Federal Government has commended Lagos State Commissioner of Police, CP Tijani Olaiwola Fatai, following a major police offensive against vandals targeting the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, including the discovery of a deep tunnel allegedly dug by criminals to conceal materials stolen from the multitrillion-naira project.
The commendation came this Thursday during a joint press briefing by the Lagos State Police Command and the Federal Ministry of Works, where startling details emerged about the scale and sophistication of attacks on the 700-kilometre highway — one of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s flagship infrastructure projects.
Federal Controller of Works in Lagos State, Engr. Olufemi Dare, who represented the Minister of Works, Engr. Dave Umahi, disclosed that vandals had stolen 1,800 manhole covers, 1,000 metres (one kilometre) of Clear View security fencing and 75 directional signs from the highway between January and August.
Engr. Dare said the activities of the vandals had become so brazen that some allegedly dug a deep underground tunnel which they used as a warehouse for stolen materials removed from the construction corridor.
The Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, estimated to cost about ₦15 trillion ($11 billion), is planned to stretch approximately 700 kilometres through nine coastal states, making it one of Africa’s most ambitious road infrastructure projects.
Addressing journalists alongside CP Fatai, Engr. Dare said Engr. Umahi specifically directed him to convey the Federal Government’s appreciation to the police commissioner and his officers for intensifying security operations along the Coastal Highway and other strategic federal infrastructure in Lagos.
“The Honourable Minister sent me here this afternoon to join the CP and let Nigerians know some of the things going on along the Coastal Road and the Third Mainland Bridge,” Engr. Dare said.
“The Honourable Minister commended the CP for working hard, and officers working on the Coastal Road, the recently launched Coastal Guards, for the work they are doing. We’ve had many successes.”
But behind the successes, Engr. Dare painted a disturbing picture of sustained attacks on infrastructure installed along the highway.
According to him, the vandals have repeatedly smashed concrete manhole covers to extract the reinforcing iron embedded in them.
“The drainage system we have is an underground drainage system. At the ground level, we have manhole covers for the drainage. Between January and now, 1,800 of the manholes have been stolen,” he said.
“The vandals break the concrete covers and remove the reinforcement that’s in it. The manhole is about one metre by one metre; when they remove the concrete, they break it and remove the iron.”
The criminals, he added, also turned their attention to the Clear View fencing erected on both sides of the highway to separate adjoining communities from the carriageway.
“Between January and now, 1,000 metres, which is 1km, of the Clear View fence have been taken away,” Engr. Dare said.
He added that another 75 directional road signs intended to guide motorists, including international visitors unfamiliar with Lagos roads, had also disappeared.
Expressing the Works Minister’s frustration, Engr. Dare declared that the Federal Government had effectively “declared war on vandalism.”
“The Honourable Minister has been very sad about these thefts and vandalism. He said there’s madness in Lagos and we must meet it with higher madness,” Dare said. “The Coastal Road should not be a haven for criminals.”
Earlier, CP Fatai disclosed that sustained intelligence operations by the Lagos State Police Command had led to the arrest of 10 suspects on August 17 in connection with repeated vandalism along the Coastal Highway.
The suspects were identified as Courage Ogbemudiah, 19; Michael Janes, 25; Muhammed Mustapha, 25; Muyideen Ola, 32; Emmanuel James, 18; Tadious Nanius, 28; Anthony Nucase, 23; Makinde Muize, 30; Bolaji Raji, 30; and Waliu Kabiru, 28.
Vandalised iron materials were recovered during the operation.
CP Fatai said preliminary investigations linked the suspects to repeated attacks on infrastructure along the highway, adding that statements had been obtained from them as investigators widened the probe.
“The Command is working closely with the relevant authorities to ensure that those responsible for the continued destruction and theft of public infrastructure are brought to justice,” the CP said.
The police crackdown has also extended to the Third Mainland Bridge, another piece of critical federal infrastructure increasingly targeted by vandals.
Fatai announced the arrest of 28-year-old Chidiebere Ochiri, who is accused of stealing government-installed CCTV cables, copper wires and iron fittings from the bridge.
According to the police, Ochiri allegedly admitted during interrogation that he had been involved in vandalising the infrastructure for several months and sold copper wires to scavengers and scrap dealers for about ₦12,000 per kilogramme.
A quantity of copper wire was recovered.
Police investigators are now pursuing an alleged accomplice and tracing scrap dealers suspected of providing a ready market for stolen government infrastructure.
The Coastal Highway operation formed part of a broader security offensive in which the Lagos State Police Command said it arrested 39 suspects during August for alleged offences ranging from vandalism and stealing to robbery and cultism.
Items recovered included vandalised iron and cables, 14 locally made pistols, one double-barrel gun, one live cartridge, seven cutlasses, 16 knives, 13 bags of substances suspected to be Indian hemp, a POS machine, assorted charms and a laptop.
Police also recovered a truck loaded with cartons of spaghetti in an investigation into the suspected diversion of goods.
Other operations led to arrests of suspected cultists and armed robbers in Aguda, Surulere, Isolo and Ijeshatedo.
CP Fatai said the results reflected the Command’s strategy of intelligence-led policing, surveillance, targeted raids, stop-and-search operations and rapid response to information from members of the public.
He singled out attacks on the Coastal Highway and Third Mainland Bridge as particularly troubling because vandalism of such infrastructure goes beyond financial losses and could undermine public safety and major national development projects.
“The recent vandalism of the Third Mainland Bridge and the newly constructed Coastal Road is particularly concerning, as such acts not only cause significant losses but also threaten major government projects designed to improve transportation, connectivity and economic activities,” the police commissioner said.
“The Command will not allow criminals to undermine these developmental efforts.”
CP Fatai vowed that the police would intensify collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Works and other stakeholders to secure the Coastal Highway, bridges and other critical infrastructure across Lagos.
“Let me reiterate that Lagos will not be a safe haven for criminals,” he said. “Whether involved in vandalism, robbery, stealing, cultism, kidnapping or any other criminal activity, we will continue to identify, disrupt and dismantle their operations.”
He urged residents and communities around major infrastructure projects to report suspicious movements and activities, stressing that intelligence supplied by members of the public remained crucial to preventing crime.
The CP also assured that the 39 suspects would undergo diligent investigation and that those found culpable would be prosecuted in accordance with the law.
With the Federal Government now declaring an all-out offensive against infrastructure vandals and the police tightening security around the Coastal Highway, the battle is increasingly shifting beyond arresting those who physically dismantle public assets to identifying the scrap dealers, receivers and other networks that provide the market sustaining the criminal enterprise.
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